The present invention generally relates to methods for preparing mozzarella cheese. More specifically, the present invention relates to wheyless processes for preparing natural mozzarella cheese using dry dairy ingredients.
Traditional mozzarella cheese is made by treating buffalo or bovine milk, either full or reduced fat, with chymosin or similar enzymes, then acidifying with lactic acid bacterial cultures or vinegar so as to form curds and whey. After separation from the whey, the curd is traditionally processed by a pasta filata system utilizing heat and mechanical working to impart the desirable xe2x80x9cchicken breastxe2x80x9d mozzarella texture. Traditional methods, while producing an excellent finished product, have the disadvantage of being relatively time consuming. Moreover, valuable milk proteins are lost in the whey and pasta filata immersion fluids. Adding further to costs, the removal of whey requires further processing for conversion into secondary products or treatment prior to disposal. Finally, there is a significant financial and logistical burden associated with the use of fluid milk since large quantities of fresh milk must be shipped and stored under refrigerated conditions.
It is well known in the prior art to produce a processed mozzarella cheese having some of the attributes of natural cheese; such processed cheese may be substituted for natural cheese in some applications. Processed mozzarella cheese can be made using conventional mozzarella cheese curd, a proteinaceous ingredient (e.g., casein, caseinates, and milk protein concentrates) and a fat source (e.g., butterfat, cream, or vegetable oil) cooked in the presence of significant levels of emulsifying salts (e.g., sodium phosphates, sodium citrates, and the like). However, such process mozzarella cheese, in addition to compositional differences, does not have the desired textural or flavor attributes normally associated with natural mozzarella. Moreover, although the manufacture of processed mozzarella does not produce whey, the process utilizes traditional mozzarella curd which does require whey removal. Therefore, the processing costs associated with whey removal are not avoided.
It is also well known in the art to produce cheeses from concentrated fluid milk. For example, PCT Patent Publication WO 00/27214 (published May 18, 2000) describes a process to produce cheese. For example, a mozzarella cheese was produced by treating whole liquid milk with acid to adjust the pH to about 5 to about 6.8 prior to ultrafiltration and diafiltration. The mixture was then salted and optional enzymes were added. The mixture was incubated for three hours and then transferred to a cooker and mechanically worked. Unsalted butter and milk protein isolate (or calcium caseinate) were added with increased agitation. After adjustment of the pH to about 5, an enzyme modified cheese blend was added for flavor.
The current invention provides a mozzarella cheese with very similar textural, flavor, melt, and compositional attributes as compared to conventionally prepared natural mozzarella. The mozzarella cheese of the present invention is prepared using a process which utilizes dry dairy raw materials and avoids both the costly refrigeration transportation of fresh milk and the costly processing requirements of whey removal.
The present invention provides a method of preparing mozzarella cheese from dry dairy ingredients. In one embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 1, the present invention provides a method for preparing mozzarella cheese from dry dairy ingredients, said method comprising:
(1) mixing water and a dairy fat to form a first blend;
(2) adding a lactic acid-producing culture to the first blend to form a second blend;
(3) mixing a dry dairy ingredient with the second blend to form a cultured dough, wherein the dry dairy ingredient comprises a milk protein concentrate or a blend of the milk protein concentrate and up to about 50 percent of a second dry dairy ingredient selected from the group consisting of whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, rennet casein, acid casein, nonfat dry milk, and mixtures thereof, and wherein the milk protein concentrate has a solubility of greater than about 50 percent and a whey protein content of less than about 15 percent;
(4) incubating the cultured dough at a temperature and for a time sufficient to obtain a pH of about 5.2 to about 5.8;
(5) mechanically working and cooking the cultured dough from step (4) in a cooker at a temperature of about 150 to about 175xc2x0 F. and under relatively low shear conditions to form the mozzarella cheese; and
(6) collecting the mozzarella cheese,
xe2x80x83wherein the process does not include the formation of whey, wherein the mozzarella cheese does not contain significant levels of added emulsifying salts, and wherein the mozzarella cheese has texture and organoleptic properties comparable to a natural mozzarella cheese prepared in a conventional mozzarella process. Preferably, the dairy fat is cream, liquid or anhydrous milkfat, butter, or mixtures thereof; generally the dairy fat selected is based on prevailing market conditions and availability. Optionally, a proteolytic enzyme (e.g., chymosin) and/or a microbial or plant-derived enzyme having similar activity can be incorporated into the first or the second blend. Other optional ingredients such as salt, stabilizers, gums, preservatives, supplements, condiments, and the like may be incorporated into the cheese; such optional ingredients are preferably added prior to, or during, the working and cooking step.
In another embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 2, the present invention provides a method for preparing mozzarella cheese from dry dairy ingredients, the method comprising:
(1) mixing water and a dairy fat to form a first blend;
(2) adding a lactic acid-producing culture to the first blend to form a second blend;
(3) incubating the second blend at a temperature and for a time sufficient to obtain a pH of about 4 to about 5 to form a cultured second blend;
(4) mixing a dry dairy ingredient with the cultured second blend to form a dough, wherein the dry dairy ingredient comprises a milk protein concentrate or a blend of the milk protein concentrate and up to about 50 percent of a second dry dairy ingredient selected from the group consisting of whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, rennet casein, acid casein, nonfat dry milk, and mixtures thereof, and wherein the milk protein concentrate has a solubility of greater than about 50 percent and a whey protein content of less than about 15 percent;
(5) mechanically working and cooking the dough from step (4) in a cooker at a temperature of about 150 to about 175xc2x0 F. and under relatively low shear conditions while adding sufficient edible acid to adjust the pH to about 5.2 to about 5.8 to form the mozzarella cheese; and
(6) collecting the mozzarella cheese,
xe2x80x83wherein the process does not include the formation of whey, wherein the mozzarella cheese does not contain significant levels of added emulsifying salts, and wherein the mozzarella cheese has texture and organoleptic properties comparable to a natural mozzarella cheese prepared in a conventional mozzarella process. Preferably, the dairy fat is cream, liquid or anhydrous milkfat, butter, or mixtures thereof; generally the dairy fat selected is based on prevailing market conditions and availability. Optionally, a proteolytic enzyme (e.g., chymosin) and/or a microbial or plant-derived enzyme having similar activity can be incorporated into the first or the second blend. Other optional ingredients such as salt, stabilizers, gums, preservatives, supplements, condiments, and the like may be incorporated into the cheese; such optional ingredients are preferably added prior to, or during, the working and cooking step.
In another embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 3, the present invention provides a method for preparing mozzarella cheese from dry dairy ingredients, said method comprising:
(1) mixing water and a dairy fat to form a blend;
(2) mixing a dry dairy ingredient with the blend to form a dough, wherein the dry dairy ingredient comprises a milk protein concentrate or a blend of the milk protein concentrate and up to about 50 percent of a second dry dairy ingredient selected from the group consisting of whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, rennet casein, acid casein, nonfat dry milk, and mixtures thereof, and wherein the milk protein concentrate has a solubility of greater than about 50 percent and a whey protein content of less than about 15 percent;
(3) mechanically working and cooking the dough in a cooker at a temperature of about 150 to about 175xc2x0 F. and under relatively low shear conditions while adding sufficient edible acid to adjust the pH to about 5.2 to about 5.8 to form the mozzarella cheese; and
(4) collecting the mozzarella cheese,
xe2x80x83wherein the process does not include the formation of whey, wherein the mozzarella cheese does not contain significant levels of added emulsifying salts, and wherein the mozzarella cheese has texture and organoleptic properties comparable to a natural mozzarella cheese prepared in a conventional mozzarella process. Preferably the dairy fat is cream, liquid or anhydrous milkfat, butter, or mixtures thereof; generally the dairy fat selected is based on prevailing market conditions and availability. Preferably the edible acid added during the mechanical working and cooking step is vinegar or lactic acid. Optionally, a proteolytic enzyme, including those of animal (e.g., chymosin), plant, and/or microbial origin, can also be incorporated into the water and cream mixture and/or the blend for texture modification. If such an optional enzyme is used, a separate incubation step (about 60 to about 90xc2x0 F. for about 0.5 to about 2 hours) can be used; normally, however, the time period between the blending step and the cooking step in a normal manufacturing process is sufficiently long so that incubation can occur and a separate incubation step is not required. Other optional ingredients such as salt, stabilizers, gums, preservatives, supplements, condiments, and the like may be incorporated into the cheese; such optional ingredients are preferably added prior to, or during, the working and cooking step.
A principal advantage of the current invention is that it enables the manufacture of cheese from non-perishable or shelf-stable ingredients such as dried milk protein concentrate and anhydrous milkfat. This enables greater flexibility in the location of cheese manufacturing facilities as handling and/or transporting large quantities of fresh milk is not required. Also, in utilizing such a process, the need for refrigerated storage of the fresh milk would be minimal. The dry dairy ingredients used in the present invention comprise milk protein concentrates and blends of milk protein concentrates with up to about 50 percent of a second dry dairy ingredient selected from the group consisting of whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, rennet casein, acid casein, nonfat dry milk, and mixtures thereof. More preferably, the dry dairy ingredient used in the present invention consists essentially of about 80 to 100 percent milk protein concentrate and 0 to about 20 percent of a second dry dairy ingredient selected from the group consisting of whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, rennet casein, acid casein, nonfat dry milk, and mixtures thereof. An especially preferred dry dairy ingredient for use in the present invention is about 80 to about 90 percent milk protein concentrate and about 10 to about 20 percent rennet casein. The dry ingredients of the present invention can be used as dry powders or can be reconstituted with water prior to use. In an important aspect of the invention, the milk protein concentrate should have a solubility of greater than about 50 percent and a whey protein content of less than about 15 percent in order to obtain mozzarella cheese with acceptable texture and flavor. For purposes of this invention, a whey protein content of a specified value refers to the fraction of total crude protein rather than the total composition; in other words, a whey protein content of less than about 15 percent means that, of the total protein content of the composition, less than 15 percent consists of whey protein. Preferably, the milk protein concentrate has an average particle size of less than about 250 microns. Preferably, the second dry dairy ingredient also has a relatively high solubility (i.e., about 50 percent or higher) and/or a relatively small particle size (i.e., less than about 100 microns).
Another advantage of the current invention is that supplements, condiments, other foods, or combinations of these or other ingredients may be easily incorporated into the cheese during the mechanical working step, thus eliminating the need for a separate manufacturing step. For example, ingredients such as calcium supplements or soy protein isolate can readily be incorporated into the dough mass prior to, or during, cooking in order to prepare calcium-fortified or soy-protein fortified cheeses as desired. Similarly, food ingredients and condiments such as vegetables, spices, and the like can be readily incorporated into the mozzarella cheese of the present invention.